57. Beware the Headless Horseman

A long time between updates, as usual.  Work, family, life.  So the story goes, and so it will continue.

I began work on these figures from Blue Moon Manufacturing way back in April.  I first painted the five adult men, then the four women and one child, then the two horsemen.  I spent roughly 8 hours on the men, 11 hours on the women/kid, and 8 hours on the two horsemen, for a total of 26 hours over nearly 3 months.  That works out to about 2 hours per figure, which is blazingly fast for me.  In years past, I used to spent 8 hours painting a single figure.

I guess I've adapted to assembly line painting, of a sort, in that working on five figures at a time even though they are not identical allows me to paint more quickly.  My main problem is simply not finding/making the time to paint.  Even 30 minutes a night can help me really whittle down the pile of unpainted lead.

I persevere.

It should be noted that the pumpkin-headed horseman is not part of the Blue Moon set #6 "I'm Loosing My Head Over You," from their "Things That Go Bump in the Night" series.  (And yes, I'm embarrassed for them for their perpetual misspelling of 'Loosing.'  If you don't know why, please look it up.)

First up, we have the menfolk of Tarry Town, in the little vale of Sleepy Hollow.

Ichabod Crane on the left; Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt with the sword; Baltus Van Tassel the wealthy farmer on far right.  At least, this is who I assume they are.  One of the other two may be Hans Van Ripper.

Next, the womenfolk.

Katrina Van Tassel is in the blue dress, looking very pretty.  The other figures are, to the best of my understanding of the story, "extras."  I painted the red-head as a young maid, and figured there should be an old maid too.  The "lady" with her hands raised menacingly screamed to become a vampire, so I can use her in other genres too.  The kid may well be the author of the story, who writes, "I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrel shooting was in a grove of tall walnut trees that shades one side of the valley."  It's good enough for me!

And last but not least, the star attraction:  the Headless Horseman.

The Galloping Hessian on his black stallion; he is also called a goblin rider, and a spectre.  He was muffled in a cloak, and carried his head in his hands (which seems later to have been a pumpkin).  There is no mention of a sword.  I should say some poetic license has been taken with his appearance here.  I am not complaining!  This is one cool-looking headless dude.

A better angle to show his bloody neck.  Eeeewww, gross!

When I was buying this set, I decided to also pick up Ragged Jack (who is, interestingly, listed in their Pulp Characters section.  That's as good a section as any, I guess, but I don't initially see him as the Pulp style).

Their website comes with a downloadable free scenario to use Ragged Jack in with their Sleepy Hollow set.  Here is a quote from the website:

"Showdown in Sleepy Hollow!  An exciting new pair of linked Scenarios for Chaos In Carpathia where Ichabod Crane and the stalwarts of Sleepy Hollow must pit a fiend against a fiend, hoping that the Headless Horseman can save them from the new menace of Ragged Jack!"

I have yet to play said scenario, but it sounds plenty cool.  I've never really thought of the Headless Horseman as the Good Guy.  I guess it's a case of the Devil you know versus the Devil you don't know.

Clash of the Titans

Thanks for reading, and watch out for the Headless Horseman!  ('Cause he can't watch out for you, being headless and all....)